Queen Mary 2 - 16/05/2024 TA Review

[stan01]

26 minutes ago, Jim_P said:

I also noticed in the outdoor areas there was usually no drinks waiters walking around, unlike when I'd been on the QM2 a year prior and there always seemed to be a few drinks waiters walking around areas like the pools. Its kind of odd, since drinks are such a big earner for cruise lines, usually there are drink waiters everywhere on cruise ships. 

 

They've been promoting and offering inclusive drink packages, at least for Americans, so the incentive to generate more revenue by having a lot of bar waiters goes away.  In fact its the opposite, Cunard is incentivized to make it harder for people with prepaid drinks to take advantage of their pre-purchased drinks. 

 

[RK-NC]

23 minutes ago, D&N said:

The review referenced in posts #21 to #23 covers the same voyage M412B that others have listed negative experiences on, and was the voyage taken by some YouTubers who seemed to have no end of problems in a sheltered balcony Britannia cabin.

 

It shows that people can have very different experiences in the same grade on the same sailing.

 

It was a long, interesting read. Thank you again @exlondoner for sharing. I take all reviews (positive and negative) with a grain of salt. I do find it quite interesting that this long review is from a "new" cruiser on a first crossing. The author comes across to me as very experienced and I picked up some great tips.

[RK-NC]

57 minutes ago, Jim_P said:

On both the QM2 and QE getting any drink service in the buffet didn't happen, not once on either ship. The only way I could have a drink with my meal was to go to a bar first and take it with me. The MDR wasn't much better, usually I'd have to tell my waiter I wanted a drink and he'd find a drink waiter. I also noticed in the outdoor areas there was usually no drinks waiters walking around

 

We were on Celebrity in April and experienced the same. Our last cruise was in 2019 on Azamara and waiters were constantly EVERYWHERE offering to take drink orders. 

[King Amo]

That review sounded like they noticed a lot of the same issues identified in the Ben and David Youtube video, but without the individual and specific problems that conspired against the latter. 

 

Hopefully there is a steep learning curve for the new staff onboard, as they don't appear to be giving a great impression of the ship or the line. You can, to a certain extent, get away with teething troubles, mistakes and slowness if you demonstrate that you care and are trying to make up for it in other ways. What would be worrying me if I was in a position of responsibility on board, is that the reports are of surliness and inattentiveness on top of the service failures. 

[tacticalbanjo]

I’m currently on QM2 and have been experiencing the same issue with slow dinners. We’re on early dining but have been given a table on deck 3 with the open diners. Everything seems to be going swimmingly then grinds to a halt as the section fills up. I don’t know whether it’s the waiter or that the food isn’t being sent up until there is a few tables worth but dinner is taking upwards of two hours each night and not once have we made it to teas/coffees before we’ve had to ditch because we’re sailing with a two year old who has a limited amount of patience for waiting. We keep being left with finished plates in front of us for extended periods of time. Most annoying for me is that twice there hasn’t been a high chair waiting for us even though we’re on fixed dining so the waiters knew to expect us. I should have had a word with the Maitre’d but each night I think things have improved and when we finally finish the meal all I want to do it just get going so we can get the little one settled into kids club. We have no hope of seeing a show because we mostly haven’t been getting out in time and kids club kicks out at 10.45 which makes a 10.15 show impossible. 

 

It’s definitely not the Cunard that I know and love and I hope it improves soon. Even Britannia on the Maiden was better than this! 😂

 

Everything else has been great though. Our steward is excellent. We’ve enjoyed the quizzes in the pub each night. As ever the kids club staff have my daughter enjoying herself so much that she never wants to leave.